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Updated 16 days ago, 11/12/2024
Is BongoStays legit?
Has anyone had a successful relationship with BongoStays for either furnishing your STR property or management of that property? Since signing a contract with them I am unable to get anyone to answer emails or phone calls and am curious of others experiences.
This all sounds weirdly bongo to me. I wouldn't put my asset into the care of someone that I wasn't intimately familiar with.
- Collin Hays
- [email protected]
- 806-672-7102
I tried check in recently with Hilany, Frank, Rick about my refund they promised -- emails bounce, site down. Probably doing a business name change.
I did receive some things and Hilany did design with me, but many ordered items fro the Ops team were poor quality (see above), and I had to unbox and set it up for them. They know they didn't do right but they did not send the refund they promised.
I do think they were trying to have a legit business, but I think it was out of hand and they weren't able to manage it properly. I expect to see it rebranded as something else and I would still be cautious about using them, when they tell you they need to clear your funds overseas before ordering.
They are now listed as Tulum Land and Property! They have the exact furniture set up packages and I even went back to my invoice of my 6,500 Luxury set up fee and Frank Valencia cc Michael in the email. Michael is the owner of Tulum Land and Property. This is a scam. They just switched companies. We already hired a lawyer and he is gathering all the evidence he can. Hopefully they will get caught and never steal peoples money again
This is all very interesting and scary. My partner and I just had a couple of Zoom meetings with Hilany as well. Jake before that. Their new "company" is now called Bee Setups. The website looks legit, the schematics they sent us looks legit, but they would not send us the brand names of the furnishings or the links. We found about 90% of what they listed in a document online for more than half the cost. When we pointed it out to Hilany, she said that was due to getting people over there, coordinating assemblers, setting up the furniture, cleaning up and throwing away the material, etc. I asked what the $2000 (originally $2500 but they "came down in price") was about and she stated that was for the initial design. Jake on the other hand told us the $2k was for furnishings setup. The video online they have also states that. Our invoice also states that. Then Hilany said she would talk to Jake and the accountant. Hilany sent us an email with no mention of Jake and that Bee Setups could come down in price and gave us instructions to wire some money, and if we did that by Wednesday, there was a 3% discount. RED FLAG. Luckily I did my own digging and found that the initial $2k was linked to "Bongo" and "Bongo Stays" ... then I found this post that had similar prices and processes to what we went through... AND the name "Hilany" appeared in some comments. While I feel stupid for being scammed because this has never happened to me before, I am glad it was only $2k, and their process is very clever and deceiving.
I am so sorry this happened to you! I’m glad that you did not send over any more money. They are definitely scammers and will continue to hound you for that money. Don’t believe anything they say. I feel like they have a handbook of what to say to customers to get their money and then how to come up with excuses for why nothing ever happens.
5/24/24 update: My business partner and I have been in contact with the Bee Setups team. They have made the statement that Bee Setups has no relation to Bongo Stays, and that when Bongo Stays shut down, Bee Setups acquired several of Bongo Stays assets. My partner and I are hopeful that Bee Setups will address and resolve our concerns and requests.
Stacy, I hope your issue with Bongo Stays is resolved soon. No company should treat it's customers and clients like that, not matter the situation a company is going through.
Quote from @Sandy Hawkins:
They are now listed as Tulum Land and Property! They have the exact furniture set up packages and I even went back to my invoice of my 6,500 Luxury set up fee and Frank Valencia cc Michael in the email. Michael is the owner of Tulum Land and Property. This is a scam. They just switched companies. We already hired a lawyer and he is gathering all the evidence he can. Hopefully they will get caught and never steal peoples money again
I’m out $20K+ because of them, and as a self-employed single Mum of two teenaged girls, this is a huge blow. Did you hire lawyers in your area or in Tulum? Are you having any success with the process?
Thanks!
I understand that this is what they’re telling you. I believed them for the first couple months myself. They are lying to you. Hilany will lie to you over and over and over and even do zoom calls and lie to your face over and over and over. This is their business model. It shows their office is in San Antonio. It’s the same address as bongo stays. It’s not even a real office. They just pay a monthly fee to have a PO Box there. I am just trying to prevent you from going down the same path that many of us did. When I would complain to them that I was getting suspicious, they would ask me who I was talking to. They read this thread, so they definitely know I’m warning everyone.
We were hopeful at first, but like you, we have come to the same conclusions. They were going to check with their accounting team to see what they "could do" since we were not at all happy with what Hilany sent us. After a few days of not replying back, I asked for an update, which is when their legal representative, Joan, stated that in the contract all payments are final. My business partner then disputed the charge on her credit card and we finally got John to speak to us about trying to settle this if she reversed the charge. We asked if there was a guarantee for some kind of refund and we even acknowledged that the design work was initially setup and given to us, but not fully approved and went nowhere after that, but offered payment for that. John said no, that our offer wasn't going to cover the design work and I asked him what the cost of the design work is. No response other than they can't communicate with us until the credit card dispute was reversed.... days later, the property owner told me they received a letter from levelset for a preliminary notice of "Notice to Lien Agent". I tried to call the number that Bee Setups provided in that letter to try and talk to a Bee Setups rep. The number is for a cardiologist department (305-614-3729). Even the address provided on that letter spans multiple suites (19179 Blanco Road, Suite 105-404). I looked up just the street name and found that address tied to Bongo Stays in complaints sent to the better business bureau site. I tried to call Levelset and their number is no longer supported. I have emailed Levelset but still waiting on a reply. What a mess.
I am so sorry!!! I really hate that they continue to scam people. Don’t reverse anything. They will promise upgraded furniture or extras to keep your money.
My company has been offering furnishing and design services since 2018 in this field and I've never heard of them before. I'm sorry for the experience you are having!
It's critical to to get references and work with BB&B-accredited and fully insured companies when this amount of money is involved. So many people are popping up claiming to do this work and are frauds.
They suck. Would not use them. They mark up items significantly, they are not on schedule, and they are not easy to work with.
Well, in the end, my business partner got scared and told her credit card company to reverse the dispute. She sent Bee Setups proof of funds being returned and Bee Setups still requested a "wire transfer" of the $2k. My business partner refused in fear of losing another $2k and also because wire transfers to a company is very fishy. Bee Setups again threatened they were going to move forward with collections. That just tells me they never started or completed any collections process AND I know they can't put a lien on someone's property in which the owner had no involvement and wasn't even on the signed work contract. If I was in on this by myself, I would have kept up the fight and if it came down to going to court with them, I would have stood up for myself. Unfortunately, others are involved, so we'll just write off the $2k as a loss and continue to provide awareness of Bee Setups. Maybe they'll change their name again and/or sell the business to someone else.
Sandy, how did your case fizzle out? or is it still ongoing? And back to your earlier post, yeah Bee Setups saw my original post too and asked me several times to take it down in order to receive a partial refund. I showed them and provided my emails from customer support as proof that posts cannot be deleted, and that I updated a reply to my post, nothing came out of that. So frustrating. Even though we lost money, I'm glad to be done with them.
Our lawyer and his team are working on gathering evidence starting years ago. They stole 57k from us. They will get caught. And believe me,they read these posts. They are scum
I hope you get your money back soon. It seems like it's been a while for you. And yep... they sure do read these posts, hence their plea to have me take down my comments. Thank you for your awareness and concern, Sandy!
Quote from @Sandy Hawkins:
They are now listed as Tulum Land and Property! They have the exact furniture set up packages and I even went back to my invoice of my 6,500 Luxury set up fee and Frank Valencia cc Michael in the email. Michael is the owner of Tulum Land and Property. This is a scam. They just switched companies. We already hired a lawyer and he is gathering all the evidence he can. Hopefully they will get caught and never steal peoples money again
Quote from @Steve Holt:
Has anyone had a successful relationship with BongoStays for either furnishing your STR property or management of that property? Since signing a contract with them I am unable to get anyone to answer emails or phone calls and am curious of others experiences.
Best to stay away from silly names.
Quote from @Calvin Thomas:
I thought it was for 420 friendly rentals